A Rural Blog that provides views & insights from a Conservative Georgia Democrat

Monday, May 24, 2010

Was Late Congressman Lawrence "Larry" McDonald (D-GA) was the closest thing to a Jeffersonian Democrat?

Was he? Could it have been one of the Talmadges (Herman, Eugene), Alabama Governor George Wallace? But just what is Jeffersonian Democrat?

A Jeffersonian Democrat believes in the core ideas & principles of Thomas Jefferson:

The core political value of America is representative democracy; citizens have a civic duty to aid the state and resist corruption, especially monarchism and aristocracy.

The national government is a dangerous necessity to be instituted for the common benefit, protection, and security of the people, nation or community; it should be watched closely and circumscribed in its powers. Most Anti-Federalists from 1787-88 joined the Jeffersonians.

The wall of separation between church and state is the best method to keep religion free from intervention by the federal government, government free of religious disputes, and religion free from corruption by government.

The federal government must not violate the rights of individuals. The Bill of Rights is a central theme.

The federal government must not violate the rights of the states. Freedom of speech and the press is the best method to prevent the tyranny of the people by their own government.

The United States Constitution was written in order to ensure the freedom of the people. A strict view of how the constitution was written is kept. However, "no society can make a perpetual constitution or even a perpetual law. The earth belongs always to the living generation."

In other words, run as a Jeffersonian Democrat. A Jeffersonian Democrat believes in small government; he believes that the government that governs least governs best. Like Thomas Jefferson, he or she believe that government power must be limited and that those entrusted with exercising that power must be held in check. As Jefferson put it, we must not put confidence in man, but bind him down from mischief by the chains of the Constitution.

The closest democrat to match those Jeffersonian principles was former Georgia Congressman Larry McDonald (D-GA), who served from 1975 to 1983 (he died in office) who was a ultra-conservative democrat who considered himself a traditional Democrat "cut from the cloth of Jefferson and Jackson—was known for his conservative views, even by Southern standards. He maintained a conservative voting record in Congress. He was known for his staunch opposition to communism and believed in long standing covert efforts by powerful U.S. groups to bring about a socialist world government.

McDonald was killed in 1983 when his flight has shot down by Soviet Fighters when his flight entered Soviet Airspace

During his political career, he also scored "perfect or near perfect ratings" on the congressional scorecards of the National Right to Life Committee, Gun Owners of America, and the American Security Council. He took the communist threat seriously and considered it an international conspiracy. An admirer of Austrian economics and a member of the Ludwig von Mises Institute, he was an advocate of tight monetary policy in the late 1970s to get the economy out of stagflation, and advocated returning to the gold standard. McDonald called the welfare state a "disaster" and favored phasing control of the Great Society programs over to the states to operate and run. He also favored cuts to foreign aid, saying "To me, foreign aid is an area that you not only can cut but you could take a chainsaw to in terms of reductions."

McDonald sponsored amendments to stop government aid to homosexuals. He also advocated the use of a non-approved drug laetrile to treat patients in advanced stages of cancer. McDonald also opposed the establishment of Martin Luther King, Jr. Day, saying the FBI had evidence that King "was associated with and being manipulated by communists and secret communist agents. It was reported that McDonald had "about 200" guns stockpiled in his official district residence.

He was so conservative that in 1978, Seventh District Democratic Committee voted, 10–8–1, to pass a resolution to "censure" McDonald "for the dishonorable and despicable act of calling himself a Democrat. The main reason for the censure was McDonald's membership in the John Birch Society. Other reasons included: McDonald's alleged belief in the discredited idea that there were no implied powers in the U.S. Constitution, the claim that McDonald did not favor anti-monopoly laws, McDonald's lack of support for Jimmy Carter, and the claim that McDonald ran misleading advertisements. McDonald's reply stated the censure was "illegal" under party rules. Said McDonald: "It proves beyond any doubt to all my constituents in the Seventh District that I represent them and that I am not the puppet of a clique of liberal, disgruntled party bosses. Now you could call him a extremist politician by judging some of his positions on some of the issues mentioned above.

Here is one of his famous quotes: I personally believe that we don't need a lot more laws, I think we've got far too many laws on the books now, that's part of the problem. ... we don't need more government, more laws; we need a lot less. I'm up there in Washington, D.C. trying to dismantle a lot of this giant government. When you 'pass a law' with the current attitude in the Congress what do you get in a law today? You get either more spending, or more taxes, or more controls, which do you want? Do you want more spending? I think we've got too much. Do you want more taxes? I think we're taxed too heavily now. Do you want more controls over your life? Does anybody say 'Hey look, I really believe the federal government needs to control me. I want to be a slave. Please tell me how to run every facet of my life. I don't hear many people saying that. I think most people say I think it's time we get the government off our backs, and out of our pockets.

Many believed his presence may have made Flight 007 a target of the Soviets. Larry McDonald became the most dangerous enemy the Communists had. But this man was no doubt was the closest thing to a Jeffersonian Democrat. It wasn't all talk, he backed it up with action.

There is a group called "New Liberty Democrats": A conservative constitutional caucus started up by Michael Frisbee, who is running for congress in Ga-13 as a Constitutional Conservative. Poeple feel that our constitution is being ignored & walked on by those in D.C. (Liberals) & are calling for a return to those constitutional principles back to the democratic party. I atotally agree with that.